Atlas Presents: Sounds of Silence Film Series: "The Merry Widow" - 1925 at Atlas Performing Arts Center

With live musical accompaniment by pianist Andrew Earle Simpson. "The Merry Widow" is a romantic drama/black comedy that was a critical and box office success – based on the 1905 Franz Lehár operetta of the same name. The film is a sumptuous delight for holiday audiences with Mae Murray – known as the girl with the “bee stung lips” – and John Gilbert, whose performance as Prince Danilo in The Merry Widow was his breakthrough role in silent pictures. The Merry Widow is about the struggle between love, royalty, and the commoner with a fairy tale ending. This film contains uncredited appearances by budding stars Clark Gable and Joan Crawford – and of note is the direction by the avant-garde and visionary director Erich von Stroheim who nourished sexual and psychological undertones in cinema during the silent era.